Mary v Charles: the fight for our hearts

Page Tools

Royal tours seem just like buses - you wait ages for one and
then two come together.

The Australian tours of Prince Charles and Princess Mary of
Denmark at the end of the month are shaping up to be a battle royal
for the hearts and minds of Australians.

The royals arrive in Australia within a day of each other and
have planned busy itineraries that embrace a host of worthy
causes.

Until last week Princess Mary's tour of Sydney, Canberra,
Melbourne and Hobart with her new husband Crown Prince Frederik
looked certain to be the higher profile of the royal visits.

But the announcement that Prince Charles is to marry his
long-term love Camilla Parker Bowles a month after leaving
Australia has dramatically increased the interest in his six-day
tour.

At this stage it is understood Charles will not be bringing his
fiancee to Australia. But every move the Prince makes in the
build-up to his April 8 wedding at Windsor Castle will be closely
monitored.

The wedding was due to be announced tomorrow, St Valentine's
Day, but had to be rushed forward because the news was leaked to a
London newspaper.

As heir to the throne, Prince Charles still commands an enormous
amount of interest, particularly among older Australians. Security
will be tight for the visit. Neither the Australian Federal Police
nor NSW Police discuss security matters but the convergence of two
royal tours will fully engage their VIP security resources.

Princess Mary, the modern face of royalty in Australia, is
expected to generate huge interest among a younger generation of
royal watchers. On Friday she visited the catwalks of the
Copenhagen International Fashion Fair, possibly with a view to
promoting Danish designers on her tour Down Under.

Professor David Flint, national convenor for Australians For
Constitutional Monarchy, welcomed the two visits. "I see no
conflict at all that we have a member of our royal family, Prince
Charles, visiting at the same time as a member of another royal
family who we see as our own Australian Princess.

"It is not a hit parade for popularity. Australia is obviously
becoming a destination for people and it does no harm at all to
have such high-profile visitors so long as they behave themselves
and don't scare the horses."

Prince Charles arrives in Perth on February 28 and travels to
Alice Springs, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra. His trip will take
in projects peculiar to his interests, including meeting Aboriginal
artists and environmentally sustainable farming.

Unlike Princess Mary, who is also expected to be trailed by a
welter of people promoting Danish trade, Prince Charles will be
without his partner and will not carry out any fundraising. His
personal entourage of 20 is expected to be dwarfed by the British
media contingent, who will dog his every step.

Princess Mary arrives a day before Prince Charles and will spend
10 days in Sydney before heading to Canberra, Melbourne and Hobart.
The Danish royals fly out on 11 March.

Both royal parties will be met by the Governor-General Michael
Jeffery, Prince Charles receiving a 21-gun salute and the full pomp
and ceremony associated with an heir in waiting.

While Charles looks at worthy issues, Mary and Frederik will
begin their tour with a recreation of the Australia v Denmark yacht
race that launched their wedding festivities last year.

Then they will attend a series of gala fundraising dinners,
including ones for the Australian Red Cross and the Victor Chang
Cardiac Research Institute.

They will also be guests of honour at an "intimate"
$3000-a-couple fundraiser for the Australian Cancer Research
Foundation chaired by Mary's old boss Tom Dery at Boomerang on the
Harbour foreshore. The event's organiser, Mark Patrick, said both
royals had a good "brand" image.

"Mary and Frederik are really hot at the moment because they are
young and attractive and fit the new royal model of being quite
cool and not too stuffy.

"Prince Charles has found his niche in the green and heritage
markets and with his own Duchy organic food brand."

Not everyone is looking forward to the visits. Former Australian
Republican Movement chairman Greg Barns believes people will only
turn out for the two royals "to relieve the drudgery of their
lives".

"Prince Charles and Mary Donaldson are where they are by
accident of birth and accident of marriage," Mr Barns said.

"They have no relevance other than in terms of people being
interested in real-life fairytales."